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This article explores the concept of "human security" as an academic & fledgling policy movement that seeks to place the individual -- or people collectively -- as the referent of security. It does this against a background of evolving transnational norms relating to security & governance, & the development of scientific understanding that challenges orthodox conceptions of security. It suggests that human security is not a coherent or objective school of thought. Rather, there are different, & sometimes competing, conceptions of human security that may reflect different sociological/cultural & geostrategic orientations. The article argues that the emergence of the concept of human security -- as a broad, multifaceted, & evolving conception of security -- reflects the impact of values & norms on international relations. It also embraces a range of alliances, actors, & agendas that have taken us beyond the traditional scope of international politics & diplomacy. As a demonstration of change in international relations, of evolving identities & interests, this is best explained with reference to "social constructivist" thought, in contradistinction with the structural realist mainstream of international relations. In a constructivist vein, the article suggests that empirical research is already building a case in support of human security thinking that is, slowly, being acknowledged by decisionmakers, against the logic of realist determinism. 46 References. Adapted from the source document.

Epistemology, as I understand it, is a branch of philosophy especially concerned with general questions about how we can know various things or at least justify our beliefs about them. It questions what counts as evidence and what are reasonable sources of doubt. Traditionally, episte-mology focuses on pervasive and apparently basic assumptions covering a wide range of claims to knowledge or justified belief rather than very specific, practical puzzles. For example, traditional epistemologists ask "How do we know there are material objects?" and not "How do you know which are the female beetles?" Similarly,moralepistemology, as I understand it, is concerned with general questions about how we can know or justify our beliefs about moral matters. Its focus, again, is on quite general, pervasive, and apparently basic assumptions about what counts as evidence, what are reasonable sources of doubt, and what are the appropriate procedures for justifying particular moral claims.

Constructivism is regarded as increasingly important in International Relations. More often than not the approach is related to the issue of identity. Constructivism and identity are, however, in a dangerous liaison. This article argues that Alexander Wendt's constructivism needs identity as a central concept but that this very concept threatens to undermine the possibility of his constructivism. It is further suggested that this problem has some relevance to other constructivist approaches positioned in the middle ground between rationalist and reflectivist theorizing. The argument is illustrated with a consideration of the debates around the redefinition of the role of the Federal Republic of Germany to include the possibility of German military involvement abroad.

In Political Liberalism, John Rawls describes a metaethical procedure -- political constructivism -- whereby political theorists formulate political principles by assembling and reworking ideas from the public political culture. To many of his moral realist and moral constructivist critics, Rawls's procedure is simply a recent version of the "popular moral philosophy" that Kant excoriates in the Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals. In this article, I defend the idea of political constructivism on philosophical and political grounds. Initially, I argue that political constructivism is the best available methodology for self-legislating, socially embedded and fallible human beings; then I show that political constructivism may produce principles that could garner the principled assent of Euro-American Muslims such as Taha Jabir Al-Alwani. The article concludes by considering how political constructivism might be employed to formulate new political principles for Euro-American societies experiencing and confronting the Islamic revival. Adapted from the source document.

This article explores the concept of diaspora in relation to constructivism within IR theory. It begins by investigating the origins, definition and implications of the phenomenon of diaspora, before focusing on issues concerning identity interpenetration and multiple loyalties. Consequently, the article outlines diaspora's relationship to constructivism, particularly in terms of identity formation and the self/other dyad, as well as in the analysis of culture and transnational norms, and concludes by examining the challenges and possibilities diaspora poses for constructivist IR theory. Acting as both commentary and conjecture, this article serves as a conceptual overview of diaspora, while arousing intellectual concern for what will be a dominant issue of emerging identity politics in the twenty-first century. Adapted from the source document.

This article explores the concept of diaspora in relation to constructivism within IR theory. It begins by investigating the origins, definition and implications of the phenomenon of diaspora, before focusing on issues concerning identity interpenetration and multiple loyalties. Consequently, the article outlines diaspora's relationship to constructivism, particularly in terms of identity formation and the self/other dyad, as well as in the analysis of culture and transnational norms, and concludes by examining the challenges and possibilities diaspora poses for constructivist IR theory. Acting as both commentary and conjecture, this article serves as a conceptual overview of diaspora, while arousing intellectual concern for what will be a dominant issue of emerging identity politics in the twenty-first century.